1. Field of the Invention
A certain aspect of this disclosure relates to a pressure sensor device, an electronic apparatus including the pressure sensor device, and a method of mounting the pressure sensor device.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 1 is a cut-away side view of a pressure sensor device 1 mounted on a circuit board 21. The pressure sensor device 1 includes a mounting substrate 12, a semiconductor pressure sensor element 11 mounted on the mounting substrate 12, and a housing 16 for housing (or packaging) the semiconductor pressure sensor element 11. Terminals 19 are provided on the mounting substrate 12. The pressure sensor device 1 is fixed to a mounting surface 21A of the circuit board 21 by soldering the terminals 19 with solder 32 onto the mounting surface 21A. The semiconductor pressure sensor element 11 is a chip for detecting a pressure supplied from a pressure supply port 17 formed in the housing 16.
A pressure introducing port 18 communicating with the atmosphere may be formed in the mounting substrate 12 if the semiconductor pressure sensor element 11 needs to communicate with the atmosphere to implement its function. The pressure introducing port 18 is coaxially connected to a pressure introducing port 22 formed in the circuit board 21 and communicating with the atmosphere.
A pressure sensor device including a semiconductor pressure sensor element is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 11-326088 and Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2010-008434.
With the configuration of FIG. 1, if the amount of flux in the solder for soldering the pressure sensor device 1 onto the circuit board 21 is large, liquefied flux tends to flow into a gap 33 formed between a mounting surface 12B of the mounting substrate 12 and the mounting surface 21A of the circuit board 21 due to the capillary action. The liquefied flux flown into the gap 33 proceeds along the mounting surface 12B and/or the mounting surface 21A due to their wettability and thus may clog the pressure introducing port 18 and/or the pressure introducing port 22. This in turn causes the pressure sensor device 1 to malfunction.